Twenty-eight revised and updated essays on the textual criticism of the Hebrew Bible, the Torah, the (proto-) Masoretic Text, the Septuagint, and the Dead Sea Scrolls originally published between 2010 and 2018 are presented in this fourth volume of the author’s collected essays. These areas have all developed much in modern research, and the author, the past editor-in-chief of the international Dead Sea Scrolls publication project, has been a major speaker in all of them. The topics presented in this volume display some of his emerging interests (the text of the Torah and the proto-MT), including central studies on the development of the text of the Torah, the enigma of the MT, and the Scripture text of the tefillin.
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Emanuel Tov, Ph.D. (1974), Hebrew University, Jerusalem is J.L. Magnes Professor of Bible emeritus at that University. He has published many monographs on the textual criticism of the Hebrew Bible and Qumran, and was the editor-in-chief of the Dead Sea Scrolls publication project.
"It is not possible to do justice to this part of the oeuvre (or any part, for that matter) of Emanuel Tov in the space of a few pages. He is an extremely productive scholar and to a large extent incomparable. Here he deals with textual criticism, the Septuagint, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the MT. In this collection he demonstrates that he is a true academic. He ventures to formulate new points of view, but he is never shy to challenge the views of others, nor is he touchy about critiques of his views. In the chapter “Scribal Practices and Approaches Revisited” he takes note of criticism of his view on scribal practices and acknowledges “that criticism benefitted my scholarship.” This collection and the others mentioned above are recommended to all serious scholars of textual criticism."
Johann Cook, University of Stellenbosch in Review of Biblical Literature
Three notable features catch the collection’s importance. First, the volume is dedicated ‘to the anonymous scribes and translators who … considered it their task and their right to alter the text considerably in early centuries and subsequently to make small changes, leaving many riddles for the scholar’ (p. x). Second, some items are landmark summary pieces from reference works, notably The New Cambridge History of the Bible and the Textual History of the Bible. The book thus gives easy access to the insights derived from a long and very active academic career. Third, several of the studies reprint essays from Festschriften and conference volumes which are not always easily accessible. A must for reference libraries. George J. Brooke, SOTS Review
Johann Cook, University of Stellenbosch in Review of Biblical Literature
Three notable features catch the collection’s importance. First, the volume is dedicated ‘to the anonymous scribes and translators who … considered it their task and their right to alter the text considerably in early centuries and subsequently to make small changes, leaving many riddles for the scholar’ (p. x). Second, some items are landmark summary pieces from reference works, notably The New Cambridge History of the Bible and the Textual History of the Bible. The book thus gives easy access to the insights derived from a long and very active academic career. Third, several of the studies reprint essays from Festschriften and conference volumes which are not always easily accessible. A must for reference libraries. George J. Brooke, SOTS Review
Preface Sources Abbreviations and Sources
1 The Textual Base of the Biblical Quotations in Second Temple Compositions
2 Were Early Hebrew Scripture Texts Authoritative?
3 Post-Modern Textual Criticism?
4 The Origins, Development, and Characteristics of the Ancient Translations of the Hebrew Scriptures
5 Modern Editions of the Hebrew Bible
6 Electronic Scripture Editions (With an Appendix Listing Electronic Editions on the Internet [2019])
7 New Editions of the Hebrew Scriptures: A Response
8 Textual History of the Torah
9 Textual Harmonization in Exodus 1–24
10 The Septuagint of Numbers as a Harmonizing Text
11 Textual Harmonization in the Five Books of the Torah: A Summary
12 ‘Proto-Masoretic,’ ‘Pre-Masoretic,’ ‘Semi-Masoretic,’ and ‘Masoretic’: A Study in Terminology and Textual Theory
13 The Enigma of the Masoretic Text
14 The Development of the Text of the Torah in Two Major Text Blocks
15 The Source of Source Criticism: The Relevance of Non-Masoretic Textual Witnesses
16 The Socio-Religious Setting of the (Proto-)Masoretic Text
17 Ketiv/Qere Readings in Parallel Texts
18 The Septuagint: Summary and Update
19 The Septuagint Translation of the Torah as a Source and Resource for the Post-Pentateuchal Translators
20 The Shared Tradition of the Septuagint and the Samaritan Pentateuch
21 Moses in the Septuagint
22 The Septuagint in Codex Sinaiticus Compared with Other Sources
23 Assyria in the Septuagint
24 Transliterated Proper Nouns in the Septuagint: Some Statistics
25 The Tefillin from the Judean Desert and the Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible
26 Scribal Characteristics of the Qumran Scrolls
27 Scribal Practices and Approaches Revisited
28 An Early Leviticus Scroll from En-Gedi: Preliminary Publication Emanuel TovMichael SegalWilliam Brent SealesClifford Seth ParkerPnina ShorYosef Porath
Index of Ancient Sources Index of Authors
Part 1 Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible
1 The Textual Base of the Biblical Quotations in Second Temple Compositions
2 Were Early Hebrew Scripture Texts Authoritative?
3 Post-Modern Textual Criticism?
4 The Origins, Development, and Characteristics of the Ancient Translations of the Hebrew Scriptures
5 Modern Editions of the Hebrew Bible
6 Electronic Scripture Editions (With an Appendix Listing Electronic Editions on the Internet [2019])
7 New Editions of the Hebrew Scriptures: A Response
Part 2 Textual Criticism of the Torah
8 Textual History of the Torah
9 Textual Harmonization in Exodus 1–24
10 The Septuagint of Numbers as a Harmonizing Text
11 Textual Harmonization in the Five Books of the Torah: A Summary
Part 3 The (Proto-)Masoretic Text
12 ‘Proto-Masoretic,’ ‘Pre-Masoretic,’ ‘Semi-Masoretic,’ and ‘Masoretic’: A Study in Terminology and Textual Theory
13 The Enigma of the Masoretic Text
14 The Development of the Text of the Torah in Two Major Text Blocks
15 The Source of Source Criticism: The Relevance of Non-Masoretic Textual Witnesses
16 The Socio-Religious Setting of the (Proto-)Masoretic Text
17 Ketiv/Qere Readings in Parallel Texts
Part 4 The Septuagint
18 The Septuagint: Summary and Update
19 The Septuagint Translation of the Torah as a Source and Resource for the Post-Pentateuchal Translators
20 The Shared Tradition of the Septuagint and the Samaritan Pentateuch
21 Moses in the Septuagint
22 The Septuagint in Codex Sinaiticus Compared with Other Sources
23 Assyria in the Septuagint
24 Transliterated Proper Nouns in the Septuagint: Some Statistics
Part 5 The Dead Sea Scrolls
25 The Tefillin from the Judean Desert and the Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible
26 Scribal Characteristics of the Qumran Scrolls
27 Scribal Practices and Approaches Revisited
28 An Early Leviticus Scroll from En-Gedi: Preliminary Publication Emanuel TovMichael SegalWilliam Brent SealesClifford Seth ParkerPnina ShorYosef Porath
Index of Ancient Sources Index of Authors
All interested in Hebrew Bible, textual criticism, Septuagint, Dead Sea Scrolls, Second Temple literature, literary criticism, Apocrypha, theology, Judaica, the Torah, Masoretic studies, Jewish history, scribal developments.